The Argentine science and technology system faces the worst adjustment in its history, between arbitrary layoffs, cuts in scholarships and funds to finance projects, and lack of resources to sustain the institutes. In the new Argentina promoted by the far-right Javier Milei, researchers are described as “parasites.” And although the authorities assure that a restructuring is being carried out, they do not provide guidelines to scientific organizations, while fear of a new “brain drain” multiplies, as has already occurred in the past with the expulsion of thousands of scientists. To the exterior.
“I see a black future,” says biochemist Raquel Chan, who dedicated more than a decade to researching the resistance of various crops to drought, one of the great problems facing the planet and which completely shook the Argentine economy in 2023. , with a drop in exports estimated at nearly 18 billion dollars. From the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet), Chan developed HB4 wheat, genetically modified to resist water stress and, together with a private company, she scaled the project that began to be used in the country three years ago. Now these seeds are exported and generate foreign currency to a country marked by external restriction. Chan, who in 2023 received the Konex Platinum Award, today fears a dismantling of the scientific system. “There is only adjustment, no measure corrects previous errors or marks a better path. There is going to be a brain drain,” she warns in dialogue with América Futura.
X-ray of the scientific system
Composed of a dozen areas, the Argentine science and technology system has a central protagonist: Conicet, created in 1958 by the de facto Government of Pedro Aramburu, with the precedent of Conityc, promoted by Juan Domingo Perón in his first term. As soon as he took office, Milei eliminated the Ministry of Science and demoted it to a Secretariat led by Alejandro Cosentino, a Business Administration graduate with no experience in the scientific field. Conicet, for its part, was left in the hands of veterinarian Daniel Salamone, an expert in animal cloning.
Conicet has 28,000 employees, including researchers (11,800), doctoral and postdoctoral fellows (11,800), technicians (2,900) and administrative staff (1,900). Around 10,000 have temporary contracts that are renewed year after year. After Milei came to power, the renewal began to be quarterly or semiannual. Between the end of March and the beginning of April, there were more than 150 layoffs, within the framework of a generalized adjustment plan that caused at least another 12,000 layoffs in areas of the State and that, according to the president himself, will reach 70,000 employees.
Of the 24,000 researchers, the vast majority research in the hard sciences and a quarter comes from the social sciences. A month ago, the organization was distinguished for the sixth consecutive year as the best scientific institution in Latin America, according to the
Scimago Institutions
ranking .
Added to the layoffs is the financial suffocation, since the Milei Government operates with the same budget as in 2023, without expanding items after the 50% devaluation that it applied when taking office. Now the institutes are struggling to pay electricity rates, which have increased by around 150% since March, and they are facing difficulties in purchasing imported elements, such as reagents and equipment. In many cases, they continue to work with materials acquired last year.
At the same time, researchers explain that if the layoff plan for administrative employees is deepened, it will not be possible to sustain accounting or payment of salaries. “We have resources left for two months, nothing more, I tell it calmly because I already cried,” says Carolina Touz, doctor in chemical sciences and director of the Ferreyra Institute, located in the province of Córdoba, a specialized reference center in biomedicine and biomedical sciences. in neurobiology researching treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and Down syndrome.
A bleak future
Touz also fears a massive brain drain in the short term and focuses on the youngest. “It is not known what conditions there will be in the future. Basic science always emerges supported by the State. There is no country that does not support it,” she summarizes with concern. Chan adds that all countries that have progressed did so thanks to investment in science and technology, “even countries with right-wing governments,” he insists. “Israel, the United States, France, Germany or Korea are not communists and they invest because it is the engine of development,” she highlights, trying to counter Milei's arguments.
With the “chainsaw” plan implemented by the president, Argentina goes against the path that the countries of the region and the world have taken, and even against a law passed in 2023 that plans to bring investment in science to 0.52% of the GDP at 1.7% by 2030.
In the Ministry of Science, public spending was paralyzed by 100%, according to a report from the Argentine Political Economy Center, which analyzed the items. Lino Barañao, former Minister of Science and Technology of the governments of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Mauricio Macri, calls the cut “brutal” and details that until March 26, barely 0.63% of the secretariat's annual budget had been executed. .
“A structure that took a long time to put together is falling apart,” he laments in dialogue with América Futura, and emphasizes the “discouragement” caused among researchers by the decrease in scholarships – they went from 1,300 in 2023 to 600 assigned for 2024. freezing of promotions and cutting funding sources. “The youngest will look for other destinations and a brain drain will probably occur,” he concludes.
When consulted by América Futura, the Science Secretariat dependent on the Chief of Staff denied that the cut would cause the closure of areas linked to the scientific ecosystem and pointed out that Conicet “is in a restructuring process like the entire public administration.” “The objective is to work together with the community of scientists to expand opportunities through a public-private relationship that allows us to achieve new levels of excellence” to “generate innovation, technological development and sustainable economic growth.”
“The decisions that have been made are part of one of the management promises, by which the number of state employees is being reduced with the aim of achieving a less deficit administration,” said that department. Regarding the drop in the number of scholarships awarded, he stated that “they are not a fixed and determined sum, so they may vary over time.”
Attacks, criticism and dismissals
The fear of further adjustment and layoffs is multiplying in all organizations where science is produced. “It is difficult to calculate the magnitude of
scienticide
,” says Germán Pinazo, vice-rector of the General Sarmiento National University, doctor in Social Sciences and researcher at Conicet. “There is an unprecedented cut, dismantling of programs and destruction of universities and their budgets destined for development lines,” he said, and warned about the situation of the higher education system: “We are making an effort not to close, we have canceled offers cultural and postgraduate courses and, if the electricity rate increases a lot, we will not be able to pay it.” “If the States do not finance the social sciences, who is going to be in charge of thinking about the history of the countries, the rights and the problems?” he asks.
Mauro Greco, graduate in social communication, researcher at Conicet and author of works that analyze the role of social sciences in times of adjustment, focuses on the attack on humanities research. “Milei attacks everything that does not give an immediate result. “They want applied research as if it were possible without basic research,” he reflects.
“I am worried that we will go through another period like the one we already experienced,” says Barañao. “In the 1960s, Argentina led the scientific development of the region. With the military coup, the researchers left, we lost and our neighbors in Latin America gained. It took almost 20 years to recover the level we had. What we have in human resources is more valuable than lithium and copper. "We must not look at science as a cultural value, we must fight to link it to the economy."
As if that were not enough, the investigators are under siege by the president's followers on social networks, where they are called
"parasites
of the State
.
" The invention is not new if one takes into account that in the campaign, Milei promised to close or privatize Conicet. “What productivity do they have, what have they generated? The productivity is quite questionable,” she shot. Carolina Touz, who has specialized in studying the behavior of parasites, does not hesitate to respond: “It is very painful to be disqualified in this way. We are the only public employees who are evaluated every two years to renew ourselves, we put money out of our pockets and work on weekends.”